Zaidu Sanusi looks set to miss tonight's game after he skipped yesterday's training with a knock

SUPER Eagles leftback Zaidu Sanusi is likely to miss tonight's semi final clash against South Africa in the ongoing African Cup of Nations as he was forced to sit out training yesterday after failing to recover from a knock.

Sanusi, 26, who plays for Portuguese giants Porto, has played on four of Nigeria's five matches at the tournament so far. Yesterday, however, he was absent from the final training session ahead of the crunch game, indicating that he is not available for selection for today's match.

With Sanusi unlikely to feature today, head coach Jose Peseiro will either switch rightback Ola Aina to the left and play Bright Osayi-Samuel on the right, or go for a straight swap by bring in Boavista leftback Bruno Onyemaechi. One other option would be to switch Fulham's Calvin Bassey to the left fullback position and bring in Kenneth Omeruo to replace him the back three

For the last four games, Mr Peseiro have opted for a 3-4-3 formation, using wingbacks on both flanks. This formation has provided the Eagles with defensive solidity as the back three of William Ekong, Semi Ajayi and Bassey has been impregnable, conceding no goal since they started playing together as a back three.

One other headache Mr Peseiro is having to contend with today is what to do with Royal Antwerp midfielder Alhassan Yusuf who is now fully fit and raring to go. Yusuf was the standout player in the opening game but got injured and had to be substituted before the end of the match.

He subsequently missed the following two games but with the change in formation, there is no role for Yusuf in the current team. However, the box-to-box midfielder is back to his best, playing well in training, giving the coach a huge dilemma.